Am I? Are you? #8

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I am grateful for Jesus’ sacrifice on my account!

I AM … Crucified with Christ. — Galatians 2:20

20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Romans 8 highlights the importance of “putting to death the deeds of the body”:

12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Just as Jesus wrestled with His upcoming crucifixion in the garden, so I have had to make peace with the process of “dying” to the things I want that are contrary to God’s will for me. Another way to identify many of the things that need to see death is to recognize those things that I desire that are not in my best interest. I don’t mean my shortsighted desires either. I mean not in my best interest in the sense of the total of this life and its continuation after I shuffle off of this mortal coil. God has my best interests at heart, just as he has yours. He is limited by nothing except His having opted to let us decide.

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. Luke 9:23

Please don’t think that this is one more exhortation to hitch up your pants and redouble your efforts to exercise greater willpower. There is one thing about the dead; they don’t expend more energy than the difference in their remaining temperature and that of their surroundings. This is about turning over your “chooser” to God. Jesus made this possible:

Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Heb 7:25

My wife and I make a regular practice of reminding ourselves of some of the traits of God by praying through them together. Jehovah M’kaddesh — God our sanctification — is one of those descriptions. This word M’kaddesh is a transliteration from Hebrew which is often rendered sanctification, meaning set apart for God, or made holy. Holy means without fault and wholly consistent. The word saint is derived from it. Note very clearly that this is one of God’s attributes and it is not energized by us. We’re supposed to be dying to the thing in question. Remember? So what’s the problem? Its His power, but our choice.

I’m leaving you with a link to a set of sermon notes on this attribute of God. They are not my notes, but those of the late Rev. Don Robinson. I have not explored more of this person’s writings, but I found this particular one a thorough-going explanation of the many times in scripture that this word comes up. He also makes it clear that this is a life-long pursuit. We have a long way to go, but infinite help.

http://www.brandonweb.com/sermons/sermonpages/leviticus3.htm